The International Conference on Issues Relating to Disaster Management: Challenges for Governance Reform in Asia was held at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong in March 2005. The success of this conference eventually lead to this work Tsunami and Disaster Management: Law and Governance and is a collaborative effort by fifteen internationally renowned academics, practitioners and disaster management experts who also presented at this conference. This work highlights thematic issues relating to disaster management and their implications for governance reform in Asia and beyond. Critical examination of the legal and governance issues, assessment of the level of preparedness in the countries that have been affected by the South-east Asia earthquake and its impact on the workings of public and private institutions on ways to improve responsiveness, availability of aid and relief and working with victims are just some of the many issues covered.